Dell is Trash

Apple has been dominating sourcing amd logistics strategy. The parts and specs are secured earlier so they can increase part quality and even gobble up certain inventories.

So even though laptops are generally made by the same oem, other companies that try to mimic apples features, generally add another couple hundred at least, and still make less margins ontheir profit.

So the markup is there, but apple greedily takes it over its manufacturing partners.

 

I'm not posting this as opinion or conclusive evidence. I'm posting it in response to one above poster's "reliability rates" of brands. You can find statistics all over the place.

Dudewah's comment is spot on. Reliability and customer satisfaction rates are always higher for higher end goods, regardless of what type of product. This is about consumer psychology, not actual product quality. You think companies will release their actual repair rate statistics?

My perspective/opinon from my work in IT is that for computers, Asus, Toshiba are the most reliable, Apple, Dell in the mid, and then junk like Gateways, HPs at the end. For mobile devices, failure rates are evenly high across the board. I would probably get a nexus product over samsung/apple if solely based off reliability.

 

I do know that when Apple fails, there's a higher chance to get screwed big time in repairs.

Don't get water in your machine...

 

I think you are citing a 2009 article from Engadget magazine: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/

 

I really don't get high end laptops, and the OP's problems are one of the reasons why.

I stick to gaming on a desktop and always build my own. Its cheaper, more reliable and Newegg's warranty on parts generally beats any pre-built.

 

Buying a Dell desktop is asking for trouble.

This is not the same Dell that was doing well 20 years ago.

Even their high end products like the 30 inch high resolution monitors are plagued by problems. They have horrendous quality control now. When you need tech support, and you need plenty with their QC nowadays, you end up having long conversations with Peter from India which leads to nowhere except an exchange. The exchange product is of course a refurbished one. However, be warned. The refurbished in Dell inventories are previous customer returns, some of which they do not even go over to fix the problem, and yet they ship it out to the next guy hoping the defect is overlooked.

The only good thing about Dell now is their excellent warranty on high end monitors in terms of exchange policy/fast shipping.

This is what I do when I need a new system (and i encourage my friends/family to do the same):

1) If I need a desktop, I build it. I build a desktop every 2-3 years by buying my own quality components. You do not need to be a tech genius to do this. It is very straight forward and an easy thing to do. It also saves you a lot of money and the system is clean (no pre-loaded memory hog software from the factory slowing the system down).

2) If I need a laptop, I get a good rugged, portable laptop with excellent warranty. I have been a long time IBM (now Lenovo) Thinkpad user and have never been disappointed.

 

I was repeatedly disappointed in the build quality of the HP Envys I was trying to buy last year. Apple has great build quality, but they're priced at a premium.

 

Dell will rebuild the laptop piece by piece at your home or office before actually replacing it. Which is weird because I would think it would be cheaper for them to just to replace it.

 

Which is exactly what I was trying to say in my post. It's easy to find recent "data" as well that will claim one way or the other.

 

They'd be turning the replaced item into a refurb and not a lot of people want refurbs. That said, I'm not fond of dismantling notebooks, either. Notebooks tend to be built to really hold well i.e. it's a good thing the parts don't come off. I've disassembled some of my notebooks and they get creaks (particularly the plastic parts) when I put them back together. The components are made for just one installation, not repeated dismantling, I believe.

 

My mother-in-law insisted on buying a Dell because that's all she's ever owned..so we bought her a $700 laptop and made them put windows 7 on it instead of 8. That laptop is so annoyingly much slower than my 5yr old IMac it's insane. It's actually faster for me to use my IPhone on her wireless than to use her brand new laptop plugged in to her Internet.

I had a Dell laptop at work before my IMac and I hated it. It made an awful grinding noise and wouldn't play DVDs very well at all. It never worked very well when I tried editing on it either. It was basically non-functional for my needs (which is why it was replaced with an IMac)

 

I'd use your frustration on the customer service reps or write an email to them. Since you're still optimistic on keeping it, you don't have to threaten refunding, but if you tell them what you want "I've been reading reviews about multiple replacements like mine...I've been patient waiting for my laptop when I could've got one much faster elsewhere...so can you extend my warranty coverage as a show of faith", then you might get it.

The Twitter stunt didn't work because you wanted something their policy explicitly said it wouldn't cover. Ask for money, warranty or schwag.

Don't think one second about the stacks of promos or coupons you used to get your Dell. You probably spent 750+ like I did.

 

Bloatware and a ****ty cheap hard drive. Ask work to upgrade the harddrive with a faster disk or a solid state drive.

What's sad is that these are 2004 problems.

Moore's what?

 

Rule #1 for buying laptops: Get an SSD. **** an i7 or an i5. SSD is priority. i3 with an SSD is relatively faster than an i5 with a 7200RPM drive. BOOK EM, DANNO!